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HERONS.CORMORANTS AND GULLS- WHERE pp THEY GO?

by-Geoff Hogan, 153 North River Road, Charlottetown

Most people realize that many bird species migrate

south in fall, but have you ever wondered exactly

where birds from Prince Edward Island go? Unfortun— ately, the answer is not available for the majority

of the Island's species. To find out it is necessary

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to identify individual birds by using such techniques ' A; as dyes or specially coded leg bands. When a bird

wearing a leg band is found, the band (or the number on the band) should be sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington D.C. with the date of recovery, the recovery location, and the present condition of the bird. Because birds do not

recognize political boundaries, the U.S. and Canada work together on this.

In addition to the annual "acer- fowl banding program conducted on Prince Edward Island by the P.E.I. Fish and Wild- life Division there have been several other banding programs which have pro- vided data on the migration of Island birds. It is the results of these pro-

grams that I will present here.

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.Between 1973 and

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97 I banded 290

Great Blue Heron chicks i

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a heronry located near Pownal. To date ll of these

have been recovered. The Great Blue Heron

is widly distributed, breeding across

southern Canada, throughout most of the

U.S. and south to Mexico and the West

Fig. l Indies. As a result, P.E.I. herons